I Love Kava Friday WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT

[The Kap'n]

Yeah, buddy. Another week in the bag and a weekend on deck! I hope all you kava lovers are staying relaxed out there. I know I plan to be.

FRIDAY!!!!

Bula/Malok!

 

[JohnMichael]

It's a lovely Friday! Glad to see you flying high in galactic spaces. Bula!

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

empty shells
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For the 1st time in about 13 years, I haven't been having my nightly kava...apart from a deliberate break I took last September. This time it's not deliberate though, kava has simply priced me out. That combined with my never-ending overwhelming debt and credit cards maxed out, I just literally can't buy it. It's probably good to have a forced break though, since I drank it just about every night since 2013. So now I've only had it twice in the last 2 and a half months or so...it couldn't have happened at a worse time though:

Spoiler

because this happened to coincide with me having to watch another one of my childhood best friends die of liver failure, coincidentally all around the same time of year that my best friend died 8 years ago. So it's already a difficult time for me, which has now been amplified. The resulting grief, anxiety and depression requires some relief though, and without kava, I've had to resort to consuming the same cheap, widely accepted, widely available, liquid poison that just took my friend's life. Seems counterintuitive doesn't it.

...despite all that, I will certainly still be drinking kava from time to time, whenever I can wrangle some into my possession.

Glad to see a post from ya @The Kap'n , haven't seen you for a while.

 

[Groggy]

We should get a, get Shakas rooted campaign!

Maybe some vendors are feeling extra appreciative of all your input here over the years. Maybe some of us here are in better shape and can also chip in.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

i definitely didn't post that looking for charity...but i also would never turn down free kava
but really, i don't need anything, it was a nice thought though Groggy, thanks.

​

 

[JohnMichael]

We should get a, get Shakas rooted campaign!

Maybe some vendors are feeling extra appreciative of all your input here over the years. Maybe some of us here are in better shape and can also chip in.

Let us know his address and some kava might just show up...

 

[Groggy]

Let us know his address and some kava might just show up...

You could reach out on DM, I am not privy to such details and while we are here, happy Friday yall!

 

[nabanga]

empty shells
View attachment 13816​

For the 1st time in about 13 years, I haven't been having my nightly kava...apart from a deliberate break I took last September. This time it's not deliberate though, kava has simply priced me out. That combined with my never-ending overwhelming debt and credit cards maxed out, I just literally can't buy it.

The prices are nuts now. When I started it was as a volunteer in vanuatu on a tiny wage and it was an affordable nightly treat - a full night out at a nakamal for the same cost as a single beer in a bar. These days my nightly kava session costs $10-15 which would buy about 8 liters of beer here in Laos. Its great that the farmers have a viable living and a good export market but it has almost become a luxury item.

 

[Alia]

The prices are nuts now. When I started it was as a volunteer in vanuatu on a tiny wage and it was an affordable nightly treat - a full night out at a nakamal for the same cost as a single beer in a bar. These days my nightly kava session costs $10-15 which would buy about 8 liters of beer here in Laos. Its great that the farmers have a viable living and a good export market but it has almost become a luxury item.

I agree with you that "Its great for the farmers..." . My first experience with (what people considered) high kava prices was at the 1997 International Kava Conference at the Mauna Lani when Jerry and I announced that (generally) Hawai'i price for fresh frozen 'Awa (single cultivar) was $5. USD. People were shocked at how high a price that was. Here is a group photo of "The Speakers" for that 2 day conference. I wonder how many readers are old enough to ID some of the folks here. Some pretty well known in kava circles back in the day.